NASA tour escort Greg Hale did a great job leading us through the tour in a very non-rushed way, telling stories about his experiences and sharing facts about the building. The absolute highlight of the tour was being able to go up to the 16th floor catwalk of this massive 55-story building. I must admit: even the elevator ride was fun; just thinking about the small number of people who had ever been given the access to do the same thing.

My fascination with the VAB is the amount of history that this building has seen. It was originally built for the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo program, then came the Space Shuttles, and now the conversion to handle commercial spacecraft as well as the next generation Space Launch System (SLS). The VAB is such a symbol of that NASA can do – it’s size, breadth, amazingness (shush, it’s a word), and ability to withstand and adapt.